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Anthony Quintiliani, Ph.D, LADC

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January 14, 2021 By Admin

The Heart Sutra – Thich Nhat Hanh

The Heart Sutra – Thich Nhat Hanh

“Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.” This ultimate mantra is one of the most important in Buddhism. Thich Nhat Hanh’s new translation of The Heart Sutra offers a great deal of enlightened, sometimes more advanced, information and process. Avalokitesvara and other great Bodhisattvas present important views of this pivotal Buddhist sutra. The words used to describe it – great, highest, illuminating, and the end of suffering – offer great hope to Buddhist practitioners. Gate, itself, implies ending suffering, liberation, mindfulness, ending duality, reaching the other shore (enlightenment, nirvana, etc.).  Paragate implies going all the way to the other shore – becoming enlightened.  Parasamgate sum implies the the world-wide sangha or the entire human community. Bodhi is the light inside, and Svaha means joy. Keep in mind there may be slightly different translations of these words in Buddhist texts.

Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svah

In this paragraph, we go over chanting. Chant this: “Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.” Or if you like in English: “Gone gone, all the way over, gone to the other shore of enlightenment.” This sutra is chanted deep from within the heart, your heart. It reflects the teachings of the Prajnaparamita. Ultimately it teaches the real truth of emptiness. Some say this mantra is even more important than The Diamond Sutra. The important teaching dealing with ultimate emptiness include sinlessness, aimlessness, ending conventional designation, The Middle Way, interbeing, and the ultimate interbeing of all that arises and falls – everything that exists. The Buddha’s words to Sariputra are relevant: “This body itself is emptiness. And emptiness itself is this body. This body is not other than emptiness. And emptiness is not other than this body.”  Associated mudras with The Heart Sutra are placing the tips of mid-fingers to the tops of thumbs, and next tips of ring fingers touching tops of thumbs.

To learn more about The Heart Sutra see the book, Fragrant Palm Leaves. In the end, The Heart Sutra notes there is no self-narrative, so strive to go beyond craving, fear and suffering. To many chanting, meditating and practicing with The Heart Sutra are the highest forms of spiritual practice. Be courageous; practice! See what the outcomes are for you. Has practice impacted your thoughts, emotions, behaviors?

For more information refer to Thich Nhat Hanh (2017). The Other Shore: A New Translation of The Heart Sutra…Berkely, CA: Palm Leaves Press, pp. 115-120, etc.m

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC  

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

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Filed Under: Buddhism, Featured, Meditation, MIndfulness, Self Care, Suffering, The Heart Sutra, The Middle Way, Thich Nhat Hanh Tagged With: BUDDHA, BUDDHISM, ENLIGHTENMENT, HAPPINESS, MANTRA, MINDFUL HAPPINESS, MINDFULNESS, PRACTICE, THE HEART SUTRA, THE MIDDLE WAY, THICH NHAT HANH

July 22, 2019 By Admin

What The Buddha Taught About Metta

What The Buddha Taught About Metta

In the Metta Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya, 11:16) The Buddha said that we should seek the following characteristics in how we live our lives:

  1. Wholesome goodness;
  2. Gentle speech;
  3. Human Humility;
  4. Personal contentment;
  5. Personal calmness; and,
  6. Pure-heartedness in all we think, say, and do.

By living this way we would be most likely to find the true path to peace – inner and outer peace. On our life path, living these attributes day-to-day, we make conscious wishes (and actions) to support the following:

  1. We wish for ourselves and others to be safe;
  2. We wish to have positive thoughts;
  3. We wish for gladness in our safety and the safety of others;
  4. We wish all being to be at ease;
  5. We will cherish all living beings;
  6. We wish for us all to be freed from sense-desires;
  7. We will practice universal love; and,
  8. Living a life with all of the above will lead us to a liberated mind.

For more details refer to The Metta Sutta, Angutarra Nikaya, 11:16.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC  

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

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New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

Filed Under: Buddhism, Featured, Metta Sutta Tagged With: BUDDAH, BUDDHISM, METTA SUTTA

July 1, 2018 By Admin

Liberation of the True Self

Liberation of the True Self

Socrates is reported to have noted that “the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old but on building the new.” In Buddhism there are clear relationships between “no-self” and the force of impermanence, that reality that ensures constant change and thus personal dissatisfaction as a norm.  In the lived experiences of our psychological turmoil we humans do the utmost to direct our energy to obtaining what we want (attachment, desire, craving) and avoiding as much pain and suffering as possible. Our endless effort to obtain material and status goals for some form of inner security against the world repeatedly leads us to struggle, fear, and loss – suffering. Our cognition, emotion, behavior and sensory contact with all phenomena are fully engaged in evaluation of everything: did I get what I wanted and avoid suffering for now or not? This is the hedonic treadmill of lived attachment and avoidance. Cognitive-Behavioral analytics ends up in the same place over and over again: short-term pleasure (getting what I want for now)  and longer-term suffering  (fear of losing it or being involved in more emotional pain).  This state of constant seeking (how many “likes” do I have?) tricks us into thinking that this time, it will work. We seek safety, security, and various forms of wealth; we expect to achieve these goals and to avoid as much suffering as possible. This is impossible, since the seeking and attaching itself eventually causes more personal suffering. We humans have very short memories when it comes to the realities of pleasure and pain, happiness and suffering. Our emotional striving to be perfect and get ahead often leave us with just more desire.  The sad fact is that no matter how successful we are in accumulating all the goodies, we tend to continue our suffering sometimes in different forms.

A possible solution to consider for liberating yourself from the merry-go-round of life’s seeking and avoiding is to practice intensive, regular deep meditation and yoga. Through these regular/daily practices you will, indeed, confront yourself and perhaps open a pathway to spiritual freedom. You may liberate your true self in the process. Narrowly focus on your consciousness – the mirror of your true self.  It does not change even when the content of experience does change. Become your observing self in a state of pure awareness without judging or evaluating. In the evolutionary process, clinging is one of the most primal actions. The “vapor of thoughts” along with strong attachment clinging causes our norms to be related to our false self – with its entitlement, feeling special as a defense, greed, anger, even hatred.  Just STOP all of this process as much as you can; focus on who/what you are at the deepest most spiritual levels. Who am I is the eternal and most important question. As you meditate and do yoga, concentrate on radically accepting everything that has happened to you and may still be happening to you.  This does not mean stand by and allow yourself to be abused by cruel people; however, it does mean to pay very acute attention to what experiences trigger your ego-defenses and negative reactions in thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. How much control over your emotions are you willing to give up to other people?  Radically accept as a norm, do your asanas, meditate often, allow your true self to “let go” of the false self”s ego and superego demands. Pursue spiritual practices, be compassionate and generous, and live the life your true self desires for you. This is a life of more inner peace, even tranquility, more happiness, less competition, more love, and DOING good for others. This path is difficult in our materialistic world. The fruits of your efforts will be gratifying! If you practice, you will discover the truth about being a happier, more lovable person.

If you are not satisfied with the outcomes from your efforts here are three more things to practice. When you become entangled in the ego defenses of your mind, use the Buddha’s “best friends.” Calming breath, the half smile, standing, sitting, walking or laying down all may change your neurophysiology and thus your mood and level of self-control. This will allow you better capacity to apply radical acceptance and let go of harmful  emotional reactivity.  Another approach championed by the Buddha is to gently control your second arrows.  The first arrow is when something unpleasant happens to you and there is nothing you can do about it; this is pure suffering, and it is painful.  However what you decide to have your mind, body and emotions do with the first arrow of suffering is called the second arrow.  This very sharply pointed arrow can lead to long-term, even life-long suffering about something you failed to radically accept and let go. Become an expert in perceiving the initial activity of your second arrows, and STOP as soon as possible. At this point you may apply RAIN – recognize what if happening; accept it; investigate causation; and, apply no-self or if less skilled “its not about me attitudes.” These follow-up practices should be very helpful to you in your effort to become a more calm and more happy person.

For more details see Singer, M. A. (2007). The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, pp. 127-137.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

Filed Under: Breathing, Buddhism, Calming, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Featured, Inner Peace, M.A.Singer, Meditation, MIndfulness, Self Care, True Self Tagged With: BUDDHISM, CALMING, LIBERATION OF TRUE SELF, M.A.SINGER, MEDIATION, THE UNTETHERED SOUL

September 12, 2017 By Admin

Consciousness, Emptiness, and Well Being

Consciousness, Emptiness, and Well Being

This is an advanced post on the complex relationship among consciousness (awareness), emptiness, and well being. Readers with advanced understanding of Buddhist Psychology will recognize the inherent relationships among consciousness, emptiness, and well being and interactions with core Buddhist concepts and experiences such as happiness and suffering, impermanence, non-dual nature, dependent origination, and emptiness of all phenomena related to the former.  It is the total integration of these concepts, processes, and experiences that guide us on our personal path to enlightenment or nirvana. If we achieve wise-mind skills and meaningful regular meditation/yoga practice – as well as keep the above information in mind – we will also achieve mind and body wellness to the highest possible levels.

In an advanced contribution to our understanding of consciousness, , R. Spira (2017). The Nature of Consciousness opens up many doors of awareness to just what consciousness is and what it is not. Spira reminds us that only consciousness is aware of consciousness, and that WE are the only conscious entities that are aware of experiencing it.  Unlike the epiphenomena of the universe, in which we become aware of the seamless, unified wholeness of it all, the space between the subjective (our mind – the I/Me/Mine)) and the objective (something outside or inside that you become aware of) eventually leads us to an error in perception: That we are separate, substantial, solid individuals experiencing separate, substantial, solid things in the world.  We believe the objects and experiences we are aware of are solid, full, real forms of form in a very temporary time-space continuum. However, our consciousness and awareness are transparent, empty, and formless; thus, our mind-body of experience making sensory contact with objects – and registering as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral – is also transparent, empty, and formless. It is simply just how the mind and body function. Consciousness has no set of values or valences; it is simply a state of neutral awareness.

Leading physicists (Einstein, Planck, Bohr, and Schrodinger to name a few) have for a very long time noted that observation effects the observed; that is that subjective (mind) investigation of objects of matter do change the objects of matter.  We can only observe the wave energy or the particle at one time but not both.  As we observe subjectively, the object of observation undergoes some form of change. Perhaps this is the barely noticed effect of the very subtle energy in observation impacting the observed. So our consciousness is the only absolute reality of all things that appear to exist. The momentary sensory contact with objects and experiences produces that which consciousness is aware of. So, with these somewhat heavy viewpoints from Buddhist Psychology, we will examine upclose the meditative experience of being conscious of pure emptiness. Personal awareness of your consciousness is a neutral continuum of constancy, but sensory contact with objects and experiences leading to pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant feelings is a limited time-space phenomenon in the present moment.

As you meditate, apply complete attention, awareness, and deep consciousness on the following statements about your possible meditative experience here now. This is difficult; do your best.

  1. Consider the reality of physical, empty, transparent space between your mind and the object of interest.
  2. This inter subject-object space is invisible, but your consciousness knows it is there (close or far).
  3. We can experience timeless-space and spaceless-time.
  4. Since the essential nature of mind is awareness (pure and empty consciousness), our space-time and time-space consciousness is borderless and boundless.
  5. In the experience of conscious emptiness there is no up, down, right, left, outside or inside – there is no solid object entity, just atomic space and surrounding space.
  6. The human mind is the action of pure consciousness/awareness via sensory contact with objects.
  7. Our awareness of being conscious of our consciousness means that is the only true entity of the self.
  8. It is the I/Me/Mine of the ego that registers consciousness of something, anything.
  9. Consciousness of ultimate emptiness is the highest understanding possible in human life as well as in physics.

For more details refer to Spira, R. (2017). The Nature of Consciousness: Essays on the Unity of Mind and Matter. Oxford, UK: Sahara Publications, pp. 3, 19-33.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, VermontChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

Filed Under: Consciousness, Emptiness, Featured, Well Being Tagged With: BUDDHISM, CONSCIOUSNESS, EMPTINESS, MINDFULNESS, WELL BEING

August 23, 2016 By Admin

An Alternative to Buddhism as Religion

Alternative to Buddhism as Religion   – Simply put and Clearly Stated

In case you become too serious about yourself in this life, note that there are reportedly 400 trillion subatomic vibrations every second. So be humble! And being humble is something I have had to do regarding my experience with Zen Buddhism as my lovebuddhism_mindfulhappinessreligion. I love Buddhism; I love Zen; I love my Sangha; I respect my teachers; and, I had great difficulty accepting Zen Buddhism as my religion. I have no clear understanding for this other than the strict hierarchy and rich ceremonies reminded my very much of my Catholic upbringing. I also decided against that approach as my religion.

In a distant Taoist way, I feel more “religious” when meditating in the woods – but this deep, personal experience feels more like sacred spirituality to me.  Recently, M. Mcleod in Shambhala Sun wrote about the spiritual value of Buddhism.

Much of this post re-frames and adds to many of his comments.

Fifteen Reasons Why Spiritual Buddhism May be Very Good for YOU:

  1. We do not have to deal with the issue of whether or not there is a God or gods.
  2. We can focus on being a good person and living a good life without greed, envy, hatred, or anger.
  3. We can recognize that there is nothing especially religious about our waking up into a more aware state.
  4. We can accept Buddhist mind training or other forms of mind training as a way to become awake.
  5. We do spiritual Buddhism solely for our self and by our self. There are teachers and the sangha, but YOU do it alone through personal experience in long-term regular practice. It is an internal ting!
  6. We may use our Buddhist spirituality to wake up in experiencing non-material higher reality – a form of ultimate reality.
  7. We never need to simply have faith in Buddhism (unlike many other major religions). The Buddha noted that as we experience Buddhist practices and experiment with it for our self, keep it ONLY if it is working for you.  If it does not help, stop doing it.
  8. We can use skillful means in Buddhist practice, spirituality, and – perhaps even more important – in how we live our life (emotionally regulated, kind, compassionate, awake, present-minded, happy).
  9. We can practice Buddhist spirituality without connection with systems, programs, or institutions.  We are the sole entity of spiritual practice; spirituality is highly personal and internal.
  10. We notice that Buddhist spirituality appears to work for many other people, so why not give it a chance.
  11. We may study various religious doctrines and texts only to find out that many of the key points and recommend/required practices are somewhat similar.  I myself am always amazed at the similarities in what Jesus and Buddha have reportedly “said” to their followers.  There appears to be a spiritual theme in much of it.
  12. We may practice Buddhist spirituality without concern for specific standards and rigidness about “doing it only this way.”  In spiritual practice, the “right way” is the way that works best for the spiritual goals of the person doing it.
  13. We may practice Buddhist spirituality and find our self feeling more closely connected and integrated with others and the earth itself – perhaps even with the universe.
  14. We may come to a realization – a liberation – that Buddhist spiritual practices that are helpful to us represent serious regular practice on a personal level.
  15. We WILL come to understand that Buddhist spiritual practices increase our personal happiness.

For more information refer to Mcleod, M. In  Shambhala Sun (November, 2013), pp. 42-49.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, VermontChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

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